As online services that require account names or “User IDs” become more and more populated with user communities, the number of names readily available for user selection dwindles. Early in an online service's life cycle, one might be able to request the name “Bill” and actually have that name issued to them. On an older or more populated service, someone requesting the name “Bill” will likely find that name is already taken, and be offered a number of system-generated alternative selections, like “Bill——————” or “Bill060675” or “Wild_William.”
New online services and computer systems are being created that rely increasingly upon unique user identifying marques that include not just text display names, but upon photos, 3D models, and eventually small audio or video clips.
In cases where such richer media is used by a user to identify oneself, exclusivity is rarely a concern because photographs, audio and video clips tend to be unique by their nature. Richer media does, however, present a challenge in how it is presented to users. For example, photographs tend to display much better on higher resolution computer monitors than they do on lower-resolution (e.g., NTSC) television sets.
When online services and systems are consumed via a range of devices (e.g., televisions, cellular phones, PCs, personal digital assistants, etc.) and make use of richer media for personal identification, the problem arises of how to display the uniquely identifying media such that it looks and/or sounds best.
Previous online service offerings have supported some forms of richer media for personal identity. MSN Messenger is an example wherein a 96×96 pixel picture can be added to one's personal profile. This poses some limitations and demands upon users to get a good-looking picture representation. For example, if a user submits a large photo, MSN Messenger's smaller 96×96 pixel representation of that picture is generally unrecognizable. The picture is distorted to the point of being unrecognizable as the application system scaled, skewed, downsized, decolorized, and otherwise distorted it. The end result can be displeasing for customers.
The concept of image alternatives in itself is not new. Photo editing applications like Adobe Photoshop have offered users “thumbnail previews” of various image filters. However, such alternative representations have been conventionally been used for editing purposes.
An effective and efficient system and method for generating alternatives into an online system or computer system for managing and customizing accounts eludes those skilled in the art.